Agriculture has always been an important part of Georgia’s economic growth. Even today, farming remains an important part of the state and local economies.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) developed a program in 1992 to recognize farms and farming families that have contributed to this economic growth through the preservation of Georgia’s agricultural resources.
The stated goal of the Georgia Centennial Farm program is to promote agricultural awareness and increase understanding of the state’s agricultural heritage. This is accomplished by recognizing farms that are at least 100 years old.
Gretchen Brock, Georgia Centennial Farm Committee Chair and National Register program manager for the Georgia Department of Historic Preservation, said the program is a great way to recognize farm families that have owned the same property and continued to farm for over a century.
The historic Manning Gin Farm is a Georgia Centennial Farm and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Photo by Kristi Reed
Centennial Farms: A part of our history
“Our whole economy was and still is based on agriculture,” Brock said. “This is just a way to recognize the importance of agriculture in Georgia and a way to honor the families that basically built the state and are continuing to be a major economic force in the state.”
Several farms in Barrow County have been designated as either Centennial Farms or Centennial Family Farms.
Centennial Farms must be at least 100 years old and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Centennial Family Farms are those which are not in the National Register, but have been in the same family for 100 years or more. A third designation, the Centennial Heritage Farm award is reserved for those farms which have been in the same family for more than 100 years and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
THE PENTECOST FARM
One of Barrow County’s Centennial Family Farms, the Pentecost Farm has been recognized by the Georgia DNR as being owned by members of the Pentecost family for more than 100 years.
According to current owner Carolyn Pentecost Younts, the family’s ownership dates back much further.
“In 1799, my great-great-great grandfather William came to Jackson County,” Younts said. “The farm has been in the family since the early 1800s.”
William Pentecost, a lay Methodist preacher, was given the original plat of land as compensation for his service during the Revolutionary War.
Younts said the original Pentecost church was located on the property. Over the years, the area around the Pentecost Farm has been home to a Creek Indian village and also served as a campground for Sherman’s troops as they marched from Atlanta towards the sea.
Younts said Sherman’s troops took livestock from the farm during the war, but left the home untouched.
Though the home survived the war, eventually time took its toll. Today, only two of the original rooms remain, Younts said.
While not listed on the National Register, the farm is still steeped in history and a rich agricultural tradition.
MANNING GIN FARM
Located near the intersection of Manning Gin and Yearwood Road, the Manning Gin Farm is designated as a Georgia Centennial Farm. The Centennial Farm Award recognizes farms that are at least 100 years old and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Recognized as a Centennial Farm in 1992 and listed on the National Register in 1991, the farm has a two story home which was built circa 1887 and is unmoved from its original location. According to documentation submitted to the DNR, the farm house features three shoulder stepped American bond chimneys on a stone base, a carved front door, historic lightning rods on the roof and tongue and groove pine board floors and walls in the main body of the house.
There is also a concrete wall on both sides of the drive containing blocks made at a factory in Bethlehem.
Outbuildings include a cotton gin, warehouse, grain house, mule barn, corn crib, milk barn, smokehouse, cook house and others.
The original owner, Solomon Manning, settled in the area that would later become Barrow County in the 1850s. By 1860, Manning was a successful farmer with land holdings valued at $3,750 and a personal estate amounting to more than $6,400.
During the Civil War, Manning suffered the tragedy of losing both his sons. Like many others, his fortune was very nearly erased by the hardships of war. At war’s ends, Manning’s property holdings remained intact but the value of his personal estate had fallen to $700 with the loss of his slaves.
By 1878, Manning owned 725 acres of land and employed several farm hands.
When Manning died in 1885, his estate was divided among his children. His son Robert is believed to have built the farmhouse and most of the outbuildings including the cotton gin.
The Manning Gin Company was formed around 1911, according to state records. Robert Manning sold a substantial portion of his land holdings to finance the construction of the gin. A successful businessman, Robert died in 1943 and left the farm to his brother William’s surviving children. Two of William’s children, W.S. and Irene bought out their siblings’ shares and moved to Bethlehem. The two families lived together in the farmhouse, but continued to subdivide the land over the years.
In 1982, after the death of W.S. and Irene, the farm was sold to the Gregg Van Lues. At the time Van Lues purchased the property, 39 acres of the original farm remained. Van Lues completed the restoration of the property in 1990.
In 1997, the current owners, Bob and Cheryl Lynn, acquired the property and continue the work of keeping the historic farm maintained.
THE ROBINSON FARMS
There are actually two Robinson farms listed as Centennial Family Farms - the Robinson-McNeal and Robinson-Stallings farm. Both have also been in the same family for more than 100 years.
According to current owner Caroline Robinson Stallings, the farm was purchased in 1896 from R.J. Pentecost by W.T. Robinson.
Over two decades later, Robinson sold the farm and the existing farmhouse to his brother John A. (Alexander) after moving to town and starting a lumber business. John A. already owned 50 acres adjoining W.T.’s property. After buying his brother’s land, John A’s total land holdings amounted to approximately 90 acres.
In his will, John A. deeded his original 50 acres plus his original home to his son J. Bee Robinson. To his daughter, Roxie Robinson Flanagan, he left the home and 35 acres of the property purchased from his brother.
Upon Flanagan’s death in 1945, her portion of the farm passed to her daughters Annie Bee Flanagan McNeal and Louie Dean Flanagan Powell. Powell sold her share of the farm to her sister and McNeal and her husband Harold continued to acquire land until the farm grew to approximately 75 acres.
J. Bee Robinson made several land purchases over the years and increased his holdings to 835 acres.
His son, John Robert Robinson, and his daughter, Caroline Robinson Stallings, inherited the property upon their father’s death in 1955.
Stallings said her father was able to amass such a large land holding by buying small tracts of land as they became available. The piecemeal acquisition did present some challenges when Stallings was preparing her Centennial farm application documentation.
“I went to three counties – Jackson, Gwinnett and Barrow,” she said. In the end, her research paid off and she was able to secure the Centennial Family Farm designation for both her farm and later assisted her cousin in documenting the other farm’s history.
Stallings said the effort was worth it because the land has been in her family so long.
Today, the farm is an active cattle farm. Over the years, the farm had been used to grow cotton and raise chickens, but now Stallings says it is “all cattle except for my garden.”
Taken all together, the Robinson farm lands total over 900 acres.
HILL FAMILY FARM
Originally purchased in 1848, the Hill Family Farm is also designated as a Centennial Family Farm.
Located near the intersection of Hwy. 53 and Rockwell Church Road, this farm has produced untold amounts of hay, cotton, wheat, oats, potatoes and corn over the past century and a half.
William Hill, the original owner, moved to Georgia from South Carolina. He and his wife had a 300 acre farm by the time the Civil War began. During the war, three of William and Elizabeth’s sons were killed while serving in the Confederate Army. Only Alexander and Cicero, members of the 16th Georgia Calvary, survived the war.
Alexander inherited the farm upon William’s death in 1862. He and his mother continued to run the farm. In 1867, Alexander married Margaret Elizabeth Howse, the daughter of a neighboring landowner.
Margaret would later inherit 185 acres which was added to the Hill family holdings.
Alexander and Margaret had eight children. Several years after Alexander died, the farm was divided.
Alexander’s son Robert received 115 acres on which he built a one-story farmhouse where he lived with his bride, Lola Maddox Hill. The couple had two children, Robert Alexander Jr. and Francis Pauline Hill Robinson.
When Lola Hill died, the farm passed to her children. Pauline deeded her interest to her brother in 1985. He in turn transferred the property to his grandchildren with their father, Robert G. Hill, serving as trustee.
At the time the Hill Family Farm was listed as a Centennial Family Farm, the land holdings comprised approximately 363 acres.
CENTENNIAL FARM PROGRAM
Since its inception, the Centennial Farm Program has recognized 359 farms around the state.
The program is administered by the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Georgia Farm Bureau Federation, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the Georgia Forestry Commission and the Georgia National Fair and Agricenter.
Brock said that even though this year’s deadline has passed, she hopes eligible farmers will apply next year. “It’s a great recognition program,” she said. “It doesn’t place any sort of obligations on property owners. It’s just a way to recognize and honor Georgia’s farm families.”
For more information about the Centennial Farm Program, visit http://gashpo.org/content/displaycontent. asp?txtDocument=119 or contact Brock via email at gretchen.brock@dnr.state.ga.us or by phone at 404-651-6782.
Several farms in Barrow County have been designated as either Centennial Farms or Centennial Family Farms.
Centennial Farms must be at least 100 years old and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Centennial Family Farms are those which are not in the National Register, but have been in the same family for 100 years or more. A third designation, the Centennial Heritage Farm award is reserved for those farms which have been in the same family for more than 100 years and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
THE PENTECOST FARM
One of Barrow County’s Centennial Family Farms, the Pentecost Farm has been recognized by the Georgia DNR as being owned by members of the Pentecost family for more than 100 years.
According to current owner Carolyn Pentecost Younts, the family’s ownership dates back much further.
“In 1799, my great-great-great grandfather William came to Jackson County,” Younts said. “The farm has been in the family since the early 1800s.”
William Pentecost, a lay Methodist preacher, was given the original plat of land as compensation for his service during the Revolutionary War.
Younts said the original Pentecost church was located on the property. Over the years, the area around the Pentecost Farm has been home to a Creek Indian village and also served as a campground for Sherman’s troops as they marched from Atlanta towards the sea.
Younts said Sherman’s troops took livestock from the farm during the war, but left the home untouched.
Though the home survived the war, eventually time took its toll. Today, only two of the original rooms remain, Younts said.
While not listed on the National Register, the farm is still steeped in history and a rich agricultural tradition.
MANNING GIN FARM
Located near the intersection of Manning Gin and Yearwood Road, the Manning Gin Farm is designated as a Georgia Centennial Farm. The Centennial Farm Award recognizes farms that are at least 100 years old and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Recognized as a Centennial Farm in 1992 and listed on the National Register in 1991, the farm has a two story home which was built circa 1887 and is unmoved from its original location. According to documentation submitted to the DNR, the farm house features three shoulder stepped American bond chimneys on a stone base, a carved front door, historic lightning rods on the roof and tongue and groove pine board floors and walls in the main body of the house.
There is also a concrete wall on both sides of the drive containing blocks made at a factory in Bethlehem.
Outbuildings include a cotton gin, warehouse, grain house, mule barn, corn crib, milk barn, smokehouse, cook house and others.
The original owner, Solomon Manning, settled in the area that would later become Barrow County in the 1850s. By 1860, Manning was a successful farmer with land holdings valued at $3,750 and a personal estate amounting to more than $6,400.
During the Civil War, Manning suffered the tragedy of losing both his sons. Like many others, his fortune was very nearly erased by the hardships of war. At war’s ends, Manning’s property holdings remained intact but the value of his personal estate had fallen to $700 with the loss of his slaves.
By 1878, Manning owned 725 acres of land and employed several farm hands.
When Manning died in 1885, his estate was divided among his children. His son Robert is believed to have built the farmhouse and most of the outbuildings including the cotton gin.
The Manning Gin Company was formed around 1911, according to state records. Robert Manning sold a substantial portion of his land holdings to finance the construction of the gin. A successful businessman, Robert died in 1943 and left the farm to his brother William’s surviving children. Two of William’s children, W.S. and Irene bought out their siblings’ shares and moved to Bethlehem. The two families lived together in the farmhouse, but continued to subdivide the land over the years.
In 1982, after the death of W.S. and Irene, the farm was sold to the Gregg Van Lues. At the time Van Lues purchased the property, 39 acres of the original farm remained. Van Lues completed the restoration of the property in 1990.
In 1997, the current owners, Bob and Cheryl Lynn, acquired the property and continue the work of keeping the historic farm maintained.
THE ROBINSON FARMS
There are actually two Robinson farms listed as Centennial Family Farms - the Robinson-McNeal and Robinson-Stallings farm. Both have also been in the same family for more than 100 years.
Caroline Stallings holds the two certificates recognizing her Robinson-Stallings Farm and her cousin’s Robinson-McNeal Farm as Centennial Farms. Photo by Kristi Reed
Over two decades later, Robinson sold the farm and the existing farmhouse to his brother John A. (Alexander) after moving to town and starting a lumber business. John A. already owned 50 acres adjoining W.T.’s property. After buying his brother’s land, John A’s total land holdings amounted to approximately 90 acres.
In his will, John A. deeded his original 50 acres plus his original home to his son J. Bee Robinson. To his daughter, Roxie Robinson Flanagan, he left the home and 35 acres of the property purchased from his brother.
Upon Flanagan’s death in 1945, her portion of the farm passed to her daughters Annie Bee Flanagan McNeal and Louie Dean Flanagan Powell. Powell sold her share of the farm to her sister and McNeal and her husband Harold continued to acquire land until the farm grew to approximately 75 acres.
J. Bee Robinson made several land purchases over the years and increased his holdings to 835 acres.
His son, John Robert Robinson, and his daughter, Caroline Robinson Stallings, inherited the property upon their father’s death in 1955.
Stallings said her father was able to amass such a large land holding by buying small tracts of land as they became available. The piecemeal acquisition did present some challenges when Stallings was preparing her Centennial farm application documentation.
“I went to three counties – Jackson, Gwinnett and Barrow,” she said. In the end, her research paid off and she was able to secure the Centennial Family Farm designation for both her farm and later assisted her cousin in documenting the other farm’s history.
Stallings said the effort was worth it because the land has been in her family so long.
Today, the farm is an active cattle farm. Over the years, the farm had been used to grow cotton and raise chickens, but now Stallings says it is “all cattle except for my garden.”
Taken all together, the Robinson farm lands total over 900 acres.
HILL FAMILY FARM
Originally purchased in 1848, the Hill Family Farm is also designated as a Centennial Family Farm.
Located near the intersection of Hwy. 53 and Rockwell Church Road, this farm has produced untold amounts of hay, cotton, wheat, oats, potatoes and corn over the past century and a half.
William Hill, the original owner, moved to Georgia from South Carolina. He and his wife had a 300 acre farm by the time the Civil War began. During the war, three of William and Elizabeth’s sons were killed while serving in the Confederate Army. Only Alexander and Cicero, members of the 16th Georgia Calvary, survived the war.
Alexander inherited the farm upon William’s death in 1862. He and his mother continued to run the farm. In 1867, Alexander married Margaret Elizabeth Howse, the daughter of a neighboring landowner.
Margaret would later inherit 185 acres which was added to the Hill family holdings.
Alexander and Margaret had eight children. Several years after Alexander died, the farm was divided.
Alexander’s son Robert received 115 acres on which he built a one-story farmhouse where he lived with his bride, Lola Maddox Hill. The couple had two children, Robert Alexander Jr. and Francis Pauline Hill Robinson.
When Lola Hill died, the farm passed to her children. Pauline deeded her interest to her brother in 1985. He in turn transferred the property to his grandchildren with their father, Robert G. Hill, serving as trustee.
At the time the Hill Family Farm was listed as a Centennial Family Farm, the land holdings comprised approximately 363 acres.
CENTENNIAL FARM PROGRAM
Since its inception, the Centennial Farm Program has recognized 359 farms around the state.
The program is administered by the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Georgia Farm Bureau Federation, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the Georgia Forestry Commission and the Georgia National Fair and Agricenter.
Brock said that even though this year’s deadline has passed, she hopes eligible farmers will apply next year. “It’s a great recognition program,” she said. “It doesn’t place any sort of obligations on property owners. It’s just a way to recognize and honor Georgia’s farm families.”
For more information about the Centennial Farm Program, visit http://gashpo.org/content/displaycontent. asp?txtDocument=119 or contact Brock via email at gretchen.brock@dnr.state.ga.us or by phone at 404-651-6782.
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